Muscat, Oman — Gulf Cooperation Council countries recorded strong performance in agriculture, livestock and fisheries during 2024, reflecting the growing role of these sectors in supporting food security and economic diversification.
Data released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf showed the agriculture and fishing sector contributed about $40 billion to GDP in 2024, a 5.1 percent increase compared with 2023, while its share of GDP remained stable at 1.7 percent.
Agricultural and fisheries exports rose to $7.8 billion, up 7.5 percent, while imports reached $38.7 billion, an increase of 10.1 percent.
Total GCC crop production reached around 12.7 million tonnes in 2024, compared with 12.2 million tonnes in 2023. Livestock numbers across the GCC stood at about 42.5 million head, marking growth of 3.6 percent.
Vegetables accounted for 45.8 percent of total crop production, the largest share among plant products.
Sheep remained the most prominent livestock category, representing 60.5 percent of total livestock with 25.7 million head, followed by goats at 12.5 million, camels at 3.2 million and cattle at about 1.2 million.
Egg production reached around 12 billion eggs in 2024 compared with 11 billion in 2023, an increase of 8.4 percent. Saudi Arabia led production with a 70.4 percent share, followed by Kuwait, the UAE and Oman.
Chicken meat production reached about 1.6 million tonnes compared with 1.4 million tonnes in 2023, growing by 17.9 percent.
In fisheries, total production reached about 1.1 million tonnes in 2024, up 12.2 percent compared with the previous year.
The data also showed that agricultural land across the GCC represents just 0.4 percent of the region’s total land area, highlighting environmental and geographic challenges.
Intra-GCC agricultural exports reached $4.8 billion in 2024, while fish exports reached $214.4 million.
These figures reflect growing regional trade and food integration among GCC countries.